The organic and printed electronics industry is growing steadily. This is the clear message to result from the latest business climate survey conducted by the OE-A, a Working Group within VDMA (Mechanical Engineering Industry Association). Over 80 percent of survey participants expect the industry to continue its positive development in the coming year.

The semi-annual OE-A Business Climate Survey sheds light on the anticipated growth of the Organic and Printed Electronics industry. During each survey, OE-A members – from material suppliers to end-users – are asked to provide qualitative data on the state of the industry and their expected sales development.

With a projected sales revenue of 9%, 2018 will be a very successful year for OE-A members. This outlook even exceeds the expectations of the previous survey, carried out earlier this year, with 2 percentage points. For 2019, a continuation of the positive trend in the organic and printed electronics industry is expected. Companies anticipate further advancement and revenue growth of 6% along the entire value chain.

Thin, lightweight and flexible – these are the well-known characteristics of organic and printed electronics. These features enable applications in numerous areas. OE-A members in particular target the following sectors: consumer electronics, medical and pharmaceutical, automotive, lighting, energy and packaging.

“Although we especially see a growing interest in the industry sectors mobility and automotive as well as medical and pharmaceutical,” OE-A Chair and CTO of Cambridge Display Technology Ltd., Dr. Jeremy Burroughes said, “we recognize that organic and printed electronics is now playing an important role in all of the industries mentioned above.”

It is a fact that the importance and use of this innovative technology are increasing and that it will become an indispensable part of many products in the future.

"This can be seen both every year at LOPEC, the leading international trade fair and conference for printed electronics, and in current product developments," Burroughes said. "Smartphones with OLED displays, for example, are already widely used, but printed NFC labels are also appearing on more and more products.”

The positive forecasts for 2019 are also reflected in other areas. The survey participants intend to invest particularly in their production, which also offers the mechanical engineering sector new opportunities. The respondents also expect a stable development of the employment situation and increased investments in research and development.

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